Simulative eye for toy

ABSTRACT

A simulative eye is capable of being operated between a normal state and a dilated state. The simulative eye includes an eyeball, a pupil disposed on the eyeball, an iris surrounding the pupil, and a light source. When the simulative eye is in a normal state, a color of the iris is different from that of the pupil when the iris is not irradiated by the light emitted from the light source. When the iris is irradiated by the light emitted from the light source, the color of the iris is almost the same as that of the pupil. As a result, the simulative eye is changed from the normal state to the dilated state.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The disclosure relates to toys, and, more particularly, to a simulative eye for a toy.

2. Description of Related Art

As the development of the electronic technology, more and more robot toys simulate people's actions, such as, walking, jumping, and so on. As known, eyes are one of the most important organs of human body, and people can express various feelings via the action of the eyes. The eyes of robot toys simulate human eyes by setting the simulative eyes with the same shape as the human eyes. However, some of these simulations are restricted to the eyelids opening and closing and accordingly, other simulation effect of the eyes of the robot toys are needed to make the robot looks more lifelike. Therefore, what is needed is a simulative eye capable of simulating human eyes' actions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The components of the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the embodiments of a simulative eye. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout several views.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a simulative eye in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a disassembled view of the simulative eye of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illuminating the pupil of the simulative eye of FIG. 1 in a dilated state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a simulative eye 10 includes an eyeball 100 and a spherical shell 200. An opening 202 is defined in the shell 200. The eyeball 100, received in the shell 200, includes a circular pupil 102 and an annular iris 104 surrounding the pupil 102. The pupil 102 and the iris 104, exposed at the opening 202 of the shell 200, are disposed or formed on the eyeball 100 via in-mold-decoration (IMD). In the embodiment, the pupil 102 is made of polycarbonate material, and the polycarbonate is black and translucent. The iris 104 is made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material, and the ABS material is blue and translucent.

Referring to FIG. 2, the simulative eye 100 further includes a general semi-spherical shielding member 300, a circular supporting plate 400, and a light source 500 mounted on the supporting plate 400. The light source 500 faces the eyeball, and emits light having a specific color. In the embodiment, the light source 500 is a light emitting diode (LED) emitting red light.

A round hole 302 is defined in the shielding member 300. The shielding member 300 is made of opaque material, for example, metal. The position of the hole 302 is corresponding to that of the pupil 102 and the iris 104 in the eyeball 100, and the diameter of the hole 302 is larger than that of the pupil 102. In this embodiment, the diameter of the hole 302 is equal to a sum of the diameter of the pupil 102 and iris 104. The shell 200 includes a front cover 201 and a rear cover 203 assembled together by known mechanisms such as hooks or latches for receiving the eyeball 100, the shielding member 300, the supporting plate 400, and the light source 500.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, when the light source 500 is turned off, the color of the pupil 102 is different from that of the iris 104. In this embodiment, the color of the pupil 102 is black, and the color of the iris 104 is blue. In this condition, the simulative eye 10 is at a normal state.

When turned on, the light source 500 emits red light, the red light passes through the hole 302 and irradiates the blue iris 104. Accordingly, the iris 104 almost has the same color as that of the pupil 102, that is, the black area of the pupil 102 is dilated. As a result, the pupil 102 of the simulative eye 10 looks dilated. In this condition, the simulative eye 10 is said to be in a dilated state. The simulative eye 10 can be changed from the dilated state to the normal state by turning off the light source 500.

When the light source 500 is turned off, the iris 104 resort back to its original appearance and appears to be blue again, and the pupil 102 looks contracted. Thus, by turning on and off the light, the pupil 102 seems to be dilating and contracting. In other embodiment, instead of being turned off, the light source 10 may emit light with other colors, such as yellow and/or green. Because the black area decreases, the pupil 102 also looks contracted. Further in other embodiment, the light source 10 may be operated to emit light with changeable intensity, such that the simulative eye 10 may be changed from the normal state to the dilated state or from the dilated state to the normal state gradually. Therefore, the simulative eye 10 simulate the dilated and normal state of the pupil 102 by changing the color of the area of the iris 104 to be the same as that of the pupil 102 or not.

Although the present disclosure has been specifically described on the basis of the embodiments thereof, the disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. 

1. A simulative eye, comprising: an eyeball comprising a pupil and an iris surrounding the pupil; and a light source configured to emit light; wherein a color of the iris is different from that of the pupil when the iris is not irradiated by the light emitted from the light source; and the color of the iris is substantially the same as that of the pupil when the iris is irradiated by the light emitted from the light source.
 2. The simulative eye in claim 1, wherein the simulative eye further comprises a shell for receiving the eyeball, an opening is defined in the shell, the pupil and the iris are exposed at the opening.
 3. The simulative eye in claim 2, wherein the simulative eye further comprises a supporting plate received in the shell, the light source is mounted on the side of the supporting plate facing the pupil.
 4. The simulative eye in claim 1, wherein the simulative eye further comprises a shielding member mounted in the eyeball and made of a lightproof material, a hole is defined in the shielding member, and is arranged for allowing the light emitted from the light source to be transmitted therethrough to arrive at the pupil and the iris.
 5. The simulative eye as described in claim 4, wherein the diameter of the hole is larger than that of the pupil.
 6. The simulative eye as described in claim 3, wherein the pupil and the iris are disposed in the eyeball via in-mold-decoration (IMD).
 7. The simulative eye as described in claim 1, wherein the color of the pupil is black.
 8. The simulative eye as described in claim 7, wherein the color of the iris is blue, and the light source emits red light.
 9. A simulative eye capable of being operated between a normal state and a dilated state, the simulative eye comprising: a shell defining an opening; an eyeball received in the shell, the eyeball formed with a first portion for simulating a human's pupil and a second portion surrounding the first portion for simulating a human's iris, the pupil exposed at the opening with a first color in the normal state, the iris exposed at the opening with a second color in the normal state; and a light source received in the shell, the light source capable of emitting a first light beam for irradiating the second portion; wherein when the light source is operated to emit the first light beam to irradiate the second portion, the iris is exposed at the opening with the first color for increasing an area of the pupil with the first color so as to change the simulative eye from the normal state to the dilated state.
 10. The simulative eye in claim 9, wherein an intensity of the first light beam is gradually increased.
 11. The simulative eye in claim 9, wherein the light source is capable of stop emitting light beam to the second portion, the area of the pupil with the first color is decreased to change the simulative eye from the dilated state to the normal state.
 12. The simulative eye in claim 9, wherein the light source is capable of emitting a second light beam for irradiating the second portion, the area of the pupil with the first color is decreased to change the simulative eye from the dilated state to the normal state.
 13. The simulative eye as described in claim 12, wherein an intensity of the second light beam is gradually increased. 